CHARLOTTE — As dominant as a defense can be for much of the season, the Carolina Panthers defense never seemed to find its footing during Sunday’s defeat.

The unit that carried the Panthers at times this season lost its composure and its grasp on the San Francisco 49ers a few too many times during a 23-10 loss in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

“We had these guys. I don’t think they did anything that we didn’t think they were going to do,” cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said. “We just didn’t execute.”

There were bright spots — like holding the 49ers to field goals on San Francisco’s first two possessions and again in the fourth quarter.

But too many times, the Panthers allowed an offense it held to 151 yards in a regular-season meeting to pick up big gains.

The biggest play of the game — a 45-yard strike to Anquan Boldin from Colin Kaepernick — had nothing to do with anything the 49ers did, safety Mike Mitchell said.

“That was us. We made a mistake in coverage,” Mitchell said, noting that the team missed defensive backs Josh Norman (inactive) and Quintin Mikell (foot injury in first half). “New guys in there, just a little bit of miscommunication. But that was not their execution whatsoever.”

The Panthers sacked Kaepernick once and never forced a turnover. In the regular season, Carolina had 60 sacks, 20 interceptions and a plus-11 turnover ratio.

“Didn’t make the plays we needed to make. A couple calls didn’t go our way,” Mitchell said. “We played a very good football team, very well coached. I still think we let them off the hook.”

The most notable absence on defense was Greg Hardy, who tied a franchise record with 15 sacks in the regular season. Eight of those came in the final three games.

But Hardy was double-teamed, chipped and worn down by a gargantuan offensive line and failed to record a sack against the 49ers.

One play in particular highlighted Hardy’s plight: With the 49ers in hurry-up mode during their touchdown drive of the first half, Hardy moved to the inside of the line. Kaepernick changed the play at the line, despite time running low, to an inside run past Hardy.

“I tell you what, they paid a lot of attention to him,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “You saw a lot of two- and three-man (passing) routes out of them, so that meant there was an extra guy in there and they were trying to protect.”

Hardy is a fourth-year player whose contract has run out. For obvious reasons, Rivera would like to have the player who refers to himself as “The Kraken” back next season.

“I hope so,” Rivera said. “That is something that (general manager) Dave Gettleman and I will sit down and address.”

Page 2 of 2 -

Quarterback Cam Newton was solid at times in his first playoff game — his first postseason game since winning the Bowl Championship Series national championship with Auburn for the 2010 season.

“Playoff football is a different speed than the regular season,” Newton said. “I learned that firsthand (Sunday). You have to seize the moment when the moment arrives, and we had too many opportunities that we let slip through our hands.”

Newton was 16-for-25 for 267 yards and a flawless 31-yard touchdown to Steve Smith. He did what he could in front of what was sometimes an overwhelming San Francisco pass rush that registered five sacks.

While two interceptions mar his stat line, one those came off a tipped pass.

What’s more, the face of the franchise didn’t fail to show the season-long theme of maturity.

“I take a lot of pressure on myself to perform in situations. And when I don’t do it, it’s obviously … I wear my emotions on my sleeve, I can’t help that, that’s who I am,” said Newton, stumbling for words at times. “But I can’t put all the pressure on myself, I won’t put all the pressure on myself, but I’m just saying, I just preferred, or we all expect better things when you try so hard.”